A life with Multiple Sclerosis and so much more

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Daily Archives: December 31, 2011

I’m going to set resolutions for 2012. I feel strongly that I need to do this more so than ever. There are a lot of things about MS that are just plain cruel. Unfortunately, most of these things cannot really be controlled no matter how hard we try. There is another cruelty that, while I can’t control it, someone else can. I’m talking about insurance companies. I’ve been paying hundreds of dollars every month for my Copaxone. Last year, I was so frustrated by this that I called to see what my copays would be for Gilenya. It’s a pill so I thought it would be cheaper than the injections. I was told my copays would be $50 a month….yay! So, you can imagine my joy when my neurologist told me at my visit in November that he thought Gilenya would be a good choice for me but I could also think about Tysabri. After months of researching and asking questions about both Gilenya and Tysabri I decided to change to Gilenya. Changing treatment for an MS patient is a really big deal. We don’t have much to fight with and what we do have takes time to make a difference. So, before I called my neurologist to start the Gilenya ball rolling, I called my insurance company to verify the out-of-pocket cost again. This is where my bad mood started. “The medication you’re inquiring about exceeds your allowed coverage” and “Would you like to talk with a pharmacist to find an affordable option?”. Arrgghh! *Big breath in and slowly exhaling* I won’t go on to complain and express all my frustrations about every part of this because I’m sure anyone reading this has experienced similar frustration. My biggest/number one resolution for the new year is to make the best of all of this. So I have thousands of dollars on a credit card- I get points to use for Christmas at the end of the year. So I get to continue injecting myself with Copaxone- it really is the safest of all the DMDs. So I will continue to get lipoatrophy for at least another year- I have a really good excuse to not have to wear shorts in the summer. I have decided to start the year off with a smile and I hope you will too. There is a silver lining, we just have to sometimes agree to see it.